This invention is an improvement relating to the apparatus and method of U.S. Pat. No. 4,793,014 the disclosure of which is incorporated herein and made a part hereof by reference.
The washing function of the machine of U.S. Pat. No. 4,793,014 is limited due to the relatively small amounts of wash liquid coming from the nozzles and because of the fact that the respective parts or compartments are connected through and beneath the perforate partition. Thus, wash liquid fills the compartments resulting in excessive use of liquid, and because the used wash liquid is mixed with fresh liquid the washing action is not as effective as it would be without such mixing.
Accordingly, it is an important object of the invention to provide a batch dyeing and washing apparatus and method of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,793,014 utilizing at least two adjacent imperforate compartments so that only one of the two imperforate compartments or containers is filled with wash liquid at any one time.
Another object of the invention is to provide a squeeze roll at the top of the apparatus for squeezing out used wash liquid to prevent same from moving from one imperforate compartment into the other.
Still another important object of the invention is to maximize the effectiveness of the wash water utilized in the washing operation of a batch dyeing apparatus which minimizes the amount of wash water used by providing a counterflow rinse system in the imperforate compartments.